by Matt Lincoln
His slow nod accompanied the slumped shoulders.
“I don’t know how you figured it out, but I’m not surprised,” he admitted. “I told them I wasn’t the best choice for the job, but because I know how to set underwater explosives, they came to me.”
“Where did you learn to do that?” Holm wanted to know. “We didn’t see any mentions of military service in your records.”
“Believe it or not, Mr. Zhu had me work with an oil crew for a while, including time on one of the off-shore derricks.” He leaned back and crossed his arms. “He told me it was so I could learn the trade inside and out, as he likes to keep watch over his investments. It turns out I learned some valuable skills.”
I asked the money question. “Is he the one who bribed you into bombing the hotel?”
Patrone narrowed his eyes. “More like blackmail. And yes, he was one of two.” He hesitated. “He’s not who I’m worried about. Zhu is untouchable. He’s probably on his way to Hong Kong by now.”
“Who is the other person?”
Patrone’s Adam’s apple wobbled with his voice. “You gotta protect Maria and Penelope. Mr. Zhu and this other person promised to take care of the baby as long as I kept my mouth shut. Like I say, I’m not worried about Mr. Zhu. He always finds a way out of things. I bet you have Lance Bellows and Marlin Watts figured out, right?”
“What do you know about them?” I asked.
“Probably as much as you,” Patrone said with a scoff. “They falsified documents that showed the plot was safe for the project. Mr. Zhu had figured on a smaller development, but his analysis showed he could rake in the cash with the larger building. The ground testing that Bellows gave him made it look like the high-rise could still work.”
“How are you on the inside with this knowledge if you were working with John Liu?” Holm crossed his legs and tapped the side of his shoe. “It seems to me that only people in Zhu’s employ should know that.”
Patrone’s lips thinned. “There was a… Call it a line of communication between the families.”
I glanced at Holm. There was definitely more there. I was going to follow up on that question, but a knock on the door stopped me. Diane poked her head in and gestured for Holm and me to go to the hall.
“I’ll be back in a minute. Hold that thought, will you?”
Diane pulled us into the observation room and away from the possibility of prying ears.
“I called the DOJ,” she informed us. “They’re willing to provide at least temporary protection to Maria and Penelope Patrone. If the threat continues after Patrone testifies, they’ll consider witness protection.”
“That fast, huh?” I raised a brow. “Do they know something we don’t?”
“Could be.” Diane sighed. “Either way, we need to get Patrone to name the other person and then testify.”
“What about the baby’s medical condition?” Holm frowned. “It sounds like they’re holding her wellbeing over his head.”
“We’ll do our best to make it work. That’s all we have.” Diane pursed her lips. There was no more discussion to be had.
Holm and I returned to Patrone.
“Your family will be safe for the time being,” I told him. My leg cramped, and I winced. I’d ignored worse when on combat missions. “We need a name and commitment to testify.”
“This thing is still recording, right?” Patrone pointed to the unit on the table. “I want the offer on record.”
“Yes.” I repeated the offer closer to the microphone, and Patrone’s shoulders relaxed. My gut squeezed in anticipation. “Who was the other person who pushed you into bombing the hotel, Pete?”
He whispered a name.
CHAPTER 36
When Alice used the secure burner phone to call her mother, Liu Mei was in a snit.
“Where have you been?” Mei snapped. “We have been worried all night. That detective person asked all those questions and then left. Why did they hide you?”
Alice couldn’t admit that Mei was a murder suspect. At the same time, she couldn’t brush off the questions.
“Someone is after me, Ma.” There, that was close enough to the truth without letting on about the suspicion. “They just want to keep me safe.”
“Hmph. Our people keep each other safe,” her mother stated. “We need you with us today. Your yéyé’s ashes have been delivered, and we’re going to have a small ceremony.”
“That was fast.” The news didn’t sit well, and Alice glanced over to the junior agent who was her security of the moment. Carl Donovan was a burly redhead with a quiet facade. “I thought it’d be a week.”
Mei hesitated. “When money speaks, it speaks.” Her voice sounded distant. “I want to go home, Qiaolian. This city is too hot and unwelcoming. Let’s get this done and leave you to your life.”
Alice pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Where is this ceremony?”
“It’s here, but the ceremony is family only.”
“Define ‘family only,’” Alice said.
“You, me, your father, and the guards.” Mei hesitated. “Tommy Chen was particularly fond of your grandfather. Did you know that he was John’s personal guard for several years? Tommy transferred to our service because his wife had a baby. That way, he doesn’t have to leave the city as often.”
Another reminder that Alice had supposedly failed her duty to her family was not what she needed. Alice was not a baby factory.
“I’ll be there,” she grumbled. “What time?”
“In an hour. You almost missed it.”
“You couldn’t have waited until you spoke with me to decide a time?”
“We have a flight out tonight at eight,” Mei retorted. “Everything does not revolve around you.”
“I’ll be there, Ma.” Alice clenched her teeth. She was tempted to let them have their little ceremony without her, but that would be bad form. “See you soon.” She ended the call and threw the phone onto Ethan’s couch.
“Nobody told me we’re going anywhere,” Donovan protested. “I need to call the office.”
“Fine, but make sure they know I have to be at my house within an hour.” Alice headed toward Ethan’s room, where she’d left her clothes from the day before. Her parents would have to deal with her wearing a repeat outfit if they wanted to start on time. “This is my last goodbye to my grandfather, so I’m going. If you don’t drive, I’m calling a rideshare.”
Donovan ambled to his feet and pulled out his phone. Alice went in to change and heard the agent’s voice rise and fall in the living area. She pulled her blouse on and caught a faint whiff of Ethan’s scent. Maybe they hadn’t spent the night the way she’d hoped, but the room smelled like him. His scent on her clothes gave her a sense of boldness. She could see her parents through their forced ceremony and then be done with the entire mess… at least until they figured out who did it and sent them to prison.
By the time she was dressed, Donovan had finished his call.
“They’re going to have another agent meet us outside the house.” He shifted his feet. “I really think you should call Special Agent Marston and let him know.”
The suggestion both warmed and irritated her. Alice hadn’t relied on anyone, let alone a man, to protect her since she was in school. Yéyé had always watched from a distance, but he remained unobtrusive. Although it was nice that Ethan cared so much, she didn’t like that people assumed she needed him all the time.
“Don’t worry about it,” she told Donovan. “It’ll be fine. My parents are leaving after the ceremony.” She grinned. “I get my house back to myself tonight.”
Donovan nodded, all business. “Ready if you are.”
The junior agent’s department car wasn’t as nice as Ethan’s hot-looking Dodge. The brown Impala screamed “law enforcement,” but she didn’t mind. It wasn’t like she was trying to attract criminals other than the ones already camping out at her home. The only blessing was that there weren’t active warrants that w
ould mean a raid at her home.
Donovan drove with more care than she’d known any other young man to take while on the road. Heck, even she drove faster than this guy. By the time they got to her house, she had no more than fifteen minutes until this ceremony was supposed to take place. The other agent’s car was already in her driveway, but the agent wasn’t in the car. Alice got out with him but leaned against the Impala.
“He must’ve gone inside,” Donovan muttered after he made a quick check of the other car. He frowned and turned to Alice. “Stay here for a minute. I’m going to see if he’s in the house.”
Alice nodded. The more she thought about it, the more off the whole thing felt. Maybe she should’ve called Ethan after all. He had far more experience than a junior agent. As she looked down to pull out the borrowed phone, something low on the other car caught her eye. She crouched to look. A brick-red stain ran about two inches wide and three inches tall at the base of the driver’s door. The smear narrowed into a red line that dripped into a pool on her freshly sealed asphalt driveway.
“Donovan!”
She darted out from between the cars, but it was too late. The bodyguard she knew as Tommy released Donovan from a fatal neck hold. Donovan’s head lolled back, and his body dropped to the small white porch Alice had designed with care and love.
Alice ran to the driver’s side of the Impala which faced away from her house. Tommy carried a gun, but he didn’t need one to hurt her. She dialed Ethan as she looked for a direction to flee. The street was rarely busy, but she was close to an intersection.
“Alice, are you okay?”
Her father ducked in next to her, and she jumped.
“Where did you come from?”
“I saw what Tommy did, and I ran out the back.” Ken touched her arm. “Are you calling that agent of yours?”
“Yes, Bàba,” she answered even as Ethan’s voice came over the phone. “Ethan—”
Ken snatched the phone and ended the call in one swift motion. He threw the phone in some nearby landscaping.
“That’s unfortunate.” He tightened his hand to a bruising grip on her arm. “Come inside with me.”
Alice blinked. Bàba? She tried to pull away, but he pulled a knife and pressed the tip to her throat.
“Bàba, what? Why?”
“Inside, Daughter. Now.”
He hadn’t called her “Daughter” in years. A distant memory surfaced of the word being used before he delivered punishments she’d tried to forget.
“Okay… I, I’m coming.”
The privacy hedges that she’d so loved now shielded her father from being seen by neighbors. She got to her feet in a shaky, awkward manner due to the knife at her throat. Her mind whirled with a weave of fear and questions.
“Tommy, get Mei, bring her to the van,” Ken barked. “We’re leaving before her boyfriend gets here.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she protested. Ken never did like the boys she dated in high school. One had suffered slashed tires before Alice told him they wouldn’t go out anymore.
“I heard you stayed at his place, wherever that was,” Ken snarled. “You don’t change, do you?”
This wasn’t the mild version of her father than she’d known since she could remember… except for those punishments. That flicker of memory hadn’t lit in years. He hadn’t laid a hand on her since her twelfth birthday.
“I didn’t sleep with him, Bàba.” Maybe that would calm Ken. “There were other agents there. We played cards.”
Ken shoved her into a black Sprinter panel van. Alice heard crying and saw Tommy and the others force her mother to march out to join them in the van. When Mei looked up and saw Alice, she wailed.
“No, you are not going to hurt our daughter,” she cried.
Alice gasped when she saw the vivid bruises on Mei’s face and arms. A fainter memory came to mind of Mei with black eyes and a mysteriously broken arm. How had she forgotten?
“Ma, what happened?”
Mei glared at Ken, who handed Alice over to Tommy. “Your father is what happened,” she hissed.
Ken slapped Mei’s face. “No. Qiaolian is what happened.”
He shoved Mei into the van and then signaled Tommy to do the same with Alice. Tommy’s rough hands squeezed into Alice’s shoulders, and she hit her shins against the van’s step in. She went in and huddled with her mother. Guilt crashed over her. If she hadn’t been so dead set against her mom, maybe the investigation would’ve looked closer at Ken.
Three of the guards piled into the van. Alice chose not to ask about the fourth man, Andy Chen, Tommy’s cousin, as Ken put the van in gear.
“Bàba, please explain,” she begged. “I don’t understand.”
He turned out of the driveway and peeled out onto the street.
“What don’t you understand?” he snarled. “You impressed my father so much that he chose you to lead the family. You, who have never contributed to our operations. You, who turned your back on us all.”
“I told him I didn’t want it,” she protested. “Did you kill him, Bàba?”
“I helped make it happen, yes.”
An arm went around Alice’s back. She startled and realized it was her mother. Mei used her free hand to touch Alice’s cheek, where a tear had fallen.
“I have been hard on you,” Mei said in a soft voice. “Maybe too hard. I’m used to doing everything to run our house and our part of the business.”
Ken laughed from the front. “You have no idea how much more I have done than you. Wife, Daughter, you two are so ignorant that I can’t stand it.”
“What do you mean?” Alice shouted. “You’re always behind a newspaper or locked away in your study doing who knows what. Ma has always had to do all the work.”
Ken spared an icy glare at her and then returned his eyes to the road. “There isn’t enough newspaper to fill the time in a day.” He made a hard turn, forcing Alice and her mother to fall toward the guards. “I’m the one who had spent years supplementing the business with investments your grandfather disapproved of. I rolled the profits and covered them as the more acceptable deals.”
Alice had no idea what he meant, but Mei gasped.
“Gen, you didn’t.”
Mei put her hand to her mouth, and Tommy raised a hand. Alice moved between her mother and Tommy and stared him in the eye. He spat in her face and shoved her back against the van’s wall. She bumped her head against the metal and winced. It wasn’t a bad hit, but the small pain crystallized the situation.
“Are you going to kill us, Bàba?”
“Be quiet,” he snapped.
No one spoke as the van bounced down a bumpy road and then back onto a smooth patch. Alice ran through her options. She’d only known Tommy and the other three guards for a few days. They kept to themselves, and she couldn’t remember the names of the two others in the van.
She took a chance in a low voice.
“Did you guys know anything about this before you came in from New York?”
Tommy narrowed his eyes and glanced toward the front and then back at Alice. “What does it matter?”
“You know this won’t play well with the family,” she whispered. “People like my mother. She has connections. If she disappears, they’ll know who’s behind it.”
The pudgy guard by the back door crossed his arms.
“Shit happens, girl.” His oily voice would’ve made him a good salesperson. “We have contingency plans.”
“Cleaners, you mean?” The thought of strangers poring through her house to make it look undisturbed crept along her nerves. “Think they’ll get to those dead agents before they’re found?”
The guy with the oily voice shrugged. “We got it covered. All of it.”
“Never assume we’re in the clear, asshole.” Tommy snapped the other guy on the forehead. “That’s what gets you caught or dead.”
“Like I assumed that my dad loved me,” Alice said in a wry voice. She felt like she was w
atching a movie of someone else’s life, an action fantasy that promised a happy ending. Only this was real, and nothing was guaranteed. “I don’t want to die.”
“Tough shit.” Tommy put his hands behind his neck and smiled.
“That’s enough,” Ken announced from the front. “We’re almost there. Tie them up.”
“Please, Bàba, I promise I have no intention of going back to the family.” She backed into the unyielding wall as Tommy pulled out a box with rope and zip ties. “I won’t say anything about this. It’s just a misunderstanding. I won’t talk to Mr. Zhu, either. He doesn’t have to know.”
Ken laughed. “He already knows. We helped each other. For being so smart with your fancy-assed work, you sure are stupid about people. He had a problem with his building, and I had a problem with your grandfather. If you’d have stayed with him like you were supposed to, we wouldn’t be talking about this, now would we?”
“Why would he let you kill his friend?” she pressed.
“Don’t.” Mei squeezed her arm. “He’ll hurt you.”
“Like killing us won’t?”
Mei shrank back. Alice had never seen her mother so defeated, not even in the returning memories of her father’s temper. Something had stopped the abuse, though. Or someone.
Yéyé. Maybe Ken had been on the outs for far longer than anyone knew.
“If you do as I say, the killing won’t hurt,” Ken told them. He parked the van. “Don’t fight, Daughter. You see the justice I dealt to your mother? I won’t hesitate to do the same to you.”
The side door opened. Alice looked out. When she saw their location, her heart bottomed out. There was no way Ethan would find them in time. She was going to die.
CHAPTER 37
My phone buzzed when we were eight minutes out from Alice’s house to detain Ken Liu.
“Marston,” I answered via the Bluetooth as I swerved around a few drivers who ignored my siren and the lights mounted from my dashboard.
